Show Your Snaps...November 19, 2012

We invite you again to show your own snapshots or even choice pictures. Remember it's all about the enjoyment of taking pictures regardless of what we have. We can learn from each other and it's fun to share too.

This past Saturday and Sunday we had rain all day, almost without ceasing.  Even with these weather conditions, I knew I could take good pictures with the Canon T2i (550D) camera under an umbrella.  My objective this time was to take pictures of wood ducks.

I hope these pictures encourage you all to do the same in dark cloudy conditions (as long as it's safe to do so).  And we really don't need weatherproof cameras and lenses as long as we are careful.  Good camera bags with soft cloths to absorb or wipe up any moisture are good to have too.  Of course all bets are off, if there's a hurricane; an umbrella just won't do the job.

We will start a new thread for this every week now due to the popularity. I'll be sure to comment also to your images, if you choose to share. Thanks everyone for your participation.

Photo No. 1 - This is the area that has some wood ducks.  They can't be seen here in this image, as they are elusive.  They stay further away from people than the mallard ducks.  I have to search for them.

Photo No. 2 - One of the reasons that this is a good area for bird photography, is that people do frequent this area along the nearby paths, so that some of the birds are not as afraid of photographers.  They will let you get close enough for a Canon 55-250mm IS lens, with some patience.  You might look for business parks in your area (such as this one) to see if you can find something similar if you like taking pictures of birds.  Yes, all of this trouble...to take a picture of a duck.

Photo No. 3 - The rain was pouring down at this point as you can see.  It was one of those times that I had to watch my step, with non-weatherproof shoes.

Photo No. 4 - It wasn't very long that I was able to get reasonably close to a wood duck for this picture.  I was satisfied with this one, hoping to do better.

Photo No. 5 - As I walked along in the pouring rain, this seemed like a silly thing to do.

Photo No. 6 - But I did find some more wood ducks in the middle of one of the ponds.  The female duck is on the left and the male duck is on the right.

Photo No. 7 - Here's another pair of wood ducks that I saw.  They travel often like this, just like a happily married couple.

Photo No. 8 - Here's where I was able to get closer with some cropping.

Photo No. 9 - Finally I was able to take some pictures of the wood ducks out of the water.  This is the first time that I had done this (that is taking pictures of them out of the water).  I didn't know it until after I pushed the shutter button, that I had the shutter speed very low at that focal length.  I shoot hand-held all the time outdoors.

Photo No. 10 - Here's the final picture of the wood ducks.  I do like the Canon colors of the ducks and the surrounding grass in such dark lighting.  I think the rain at this time was less, so with only sprinkles the images seemed better.